Multi-purpose air conditioner



Nov. 22, 1955 L. M. KURTZ MULTI-PURPOSE AIR CONDITIONER Filed Sept. 22, 19535 Inventor-z Lowell M. Kuvtz,

I His Atborneg.

uunuuuuun IIlllIIl |||1| United States Patent MULTI-PURPOSE AIR CONDITIONER Lowell M. Kurtz, Erie, Pa., assighor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application September 22, 1953, Serial No. 381,634

6 Claims. (Cl. 62*129) My invention relates to air conditioning apparatus and more particularly, to such apparatus which may be used for a numberof purposes, for example either to heat, to cool, or to dehumidify air.

In all air conditioning units utilizing ,a compression type refrigeration system, one of the most serious energy losses is caused by the heat given off by the refrigerant compressor. In multi-purpose units, some use has been made of this compressor heat during air Warming operations, but during both air cooling and dehumidifying operations the "compressor heat has represented a complete loss. During a cooling operation, the rejection of compressor heat is about all that can be done, but during a dehumidifying operation there is a useful purpose to which the compressor heat could be put. Specifically, in a dehumidifying operation it is ordinarily not desired to cool the room being conditioned and therefore, it is often necessary that some heat be added to the moisture free air leaving the moisture removing means. Heretofore, auxiliary heating means such as electrical coils, etc. have been used to supply the heat but obviously,v a more efiicient system would be had if the compressor heat could be used for that purpose.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide new and improved air conditioning apparatus in which the compressor heat may be utilized during a ,dehu'midifying operation.

Another object is to provide a new and improved multi-purpose air conditioner in which means ar6 piovided for rejecting, the compressor heat during the cooling operation and for utilizing such heat during air warming orrdehumidifying operations.

[A further object is to provide imRlfV6d &i1 conditioning apparatus in which means are included for selectively placing the refrigerant compressor either in the path of the air to be conditioned or in the path of the air carrying: off rejected heat.

In one preferred method of carrying my inventionin-to effect, 1 provide an. air conditioning unit in which a pair of heat. exchangers and. a compressor are' connected inua reverse cycle type refirigerant circuit allowing; interchange in, the function oi. the heat exchangers, ,I- mount this circuit with all its elements in a single casingt that ineludes both a plurality of. openings Ieadi n-gintothe myfinvention,adjustable bafiile means are proyid'ed-whereby eithenone ofithel air flows rnay, be directed oven the compressor. soas: to picle upits heat. Thusp during a warming or a dehumidifying, operatiom; the room air torbe. conditioned is passed over the. compressor whereas 2,724,247 Patented Nov. 22, 1955 2 j in a cooling operation the outside air is passed over the compressor. In other words, during "a warming or 'dehumidifying operation, the compressor heat utilized to warm the air to be cohdit'ioned whereas 'during'a'boolin-g operation, "the compressor heat is efliectively removed from the casing without adding any appreciable Warmth to the conditioned air.

The novel features which I believed to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention, however, both as to its organization and method of operation inay b'e'st be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic 'view, partially in section, of a preferred embodiment of my new and improved hir conditioning unit;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the air conditioning unit adjusted for an air Warming operation rather than an air cooling operation;

Fig. 3 is another schematic view partially in section, but showing the air conditioning unit adjusted for a dehumidifying operation.

Referring now to Fig. 1, I have showii therein an air conditioning unit 1 of the type adapted to be placed in the wall 2 lying between the room to be conditioned and the outside atmosphere. This air conditioning iliiit includes a casing 3 in which are mounted a compressor 4 and a pair of heat exchangers 5 and 6 connected, in series connection. Heat exchaiige'r 5 is positioned within the portion 7 of casing 2 protruding into the room while heat exchanger 6 is positioned in the portion 8 of the casing protruding into the outside atmosphere";

Both the outside and the rooni poftioiis of the casing include a plurality of openings or apertures which connec't the inside of the casing to the surrounding atmosphe're. Thus, inner or room casing portion 7 includes the openings 9, 10, 11, and 12 while the outer casing portion 8' includes the openings 13, 14 and 15. Moire specifically, apertures 9 and 12 are positioned in" the 6pposite side walls of easing portion 7, while apertures 10 and 11 are positioned in the end wall thereof. Similarly, in outside casin'g portion 8 apertures 1-3 and 15 are positioned in the opposite side walls while aperture 14 is positioned in the end wall.

In order for the air conditionerto operate properly; it is necessary that aposit-ive flow of air be passed through eaeh of the two heatexchangers and for that purpose heatexchan'ger 5 ispositioned directly infront of opiiihg 10 and heat exchanger 6 is positioned directly inifrb'nt of opening 14: Further, fans or blowers 16a-nd1'7 are positioned respectively adjacent heat exchangers 5 arid 6, and shells 18 and 19 are provided respectively to channel the flow from fan l'fi through heat exchanger a (l the flow from fan 17' through heat exchanger 6: These ans or blowers are driven by reversible rnea'n's, a'sfor example, the electric motor 20; so'that they may be" usedto pass air through the heat exchangers in either direction? To separate the flow of air through heatexchah'ger 5 from that through heatexchanger 6; a-partition"21* is su'p plied which extends from one side- Wall of the'air conditioner to a point about half way across the air" conditioner. The exact point of termination of i this partition 21 is* not crucial-,-however.- B-utted against'the end ofpartitionflso r as to form a- T,= is a second partition nieriiber 2 2 and spaced from thispartition member 22 and extending parallel thereto is still another partition member 2-32- The partitionZS is-itself joined to the opposite sidewall or the compressor'by a short partition 24E- The compressor 4ispositioned be'tween thpar'titiifiiis fl and 23" and bothof thesemembers include" inclined end portions whichextend" toward the compressor so as to further enclose it. Thus partition 22 is provided with inwardly extending portions 25 and 26 and partition 23 is provided with end portions 27 and 28. However, neither the oppositely disposed end portions 26 and28 on the outer side of the compressor nor the opposing ends 25 and 27 on the room side of the compressor make contact with each other, so that there is thereby formed a separate passage on each side of the casing through which air may reach the compressor. In other words, partitions 22. and 23 define around compressor 4 an open ended compart- -ment which communicates. with both portions 7 and 8 of the casing.

Now, within casing portion 7 it should be noted that partitions 21 and 22 cooperate with the casing walls to formv an incomplete compartment around heat exchanger 5. Similarly,'within casing portion 8 the same two partitions and the casing walls define a compaitment partially enclosing heat exchanger 6. 'But both of these heat exchanger compartments contain openings through which air may pass toward the compressor compartment. In fact, these openings together with those in the compressor compartment comprise a very important aspect of my invention for they provide a passageway whereby the flow of air through either heat exchanger may be passed around thecompressor so as'to pick up the compressor heat.

Thus, in accordance with my invention, I have provided adjustable baflie means whereby either of the openings to the compressor compartment may be opened or closed to the flow of air. More specifically, to close the opening between ends 25 and 27, I have provided a structure .comprised of the baffies 29, 30 and 31, and to close the opening between ends 26 and 28, I have provided a structure comprised of the bafiles 32, 33 and 34. With respect to the first mentioned structure, the center bafile 30 is stationary whereas theend bafiies 29 and 31 are adapted to swing in a horizontal plane. For example, they may be pivoted to bathe 30 as by pins 35 and 36. Similarly in the outer. bafile structure, the center bafiie 33 is stationary and the end baflles 32 and 34 are mounted for pivotal movement, for example by pins 37 and 38. Thus, on the room side of the compressor compartment the bafiles 29 and 31 may swing inwardly to contact the partitionends 25 and 27 to close the opening therebetween;'

and on the outer side, the baffles 32 and 34 may swing inwardly to contact the ends 26 and 28 to close the opening therebetween. In other words, it may be said that the compressor compartment contains a pair of movable walls, either or both of which may be adjusted to provide an opening into the compartment.

a In order to fully'open the passageways to the compressor, it is necessary that the various movable baflies or walls be swung to an outward position. To terminate the outward movement of the movable bafiles, I have provided a plurality of stops or partition members 39, 40, 41 and 42, the stops 39 and 40 being mounted respectively on the fan shells 18 and 19 and the stops 41 and 42 being mounted on the right-hand side wall of the casing (as viewed in Fig. 1). When the battles 29 and 31 and the bafiies 32 and 34 are swung outwardly to contact their respective stops, they close off the spaces lying between them and the casing wall. In the outer casing portion, this merely creates a dead air space but in the inner casing portion, the opening 11 is effectively blocked ofi. The manner in which opening 11 is blocked 01f may be best seen in Fig. 2. Y v

- It should also be noted that at their ends adjacent the compressor, the movable baffles 31 and 34 are respectively provided with inclined fins 43 and 44. When these baffles are swung to their outward positions, fins 43 and 44 extend inwardly toward the compressor so as to somewhat block off the passages between the stationary baflles and the compressor. More specifically, when batfie 31 is moved outwardly against stop 41, fin 43 partially blocks off the, passage between compressor 4 and baffle 30 whereas, when bafiie 34 is swung outwardy against stop 42, fin

44 partially blocks 011 the passage between bafiie 33 and compressor 4. The purpose of this blocking 011 of the passageways will be explained hereinafter.

In operation, air conditioner 1 may be used as either a cooling means, a heating means, or a dehumidifying means. For that purpose, compressor 4 and heat exchangers 5 and 6 are connected in a reverse cycle refrigeration system so that either heat exchanger can be used as an evaporator or as a condenser. More specifically, heat exchangers 5 and 6 may be connected in the refrigerant circuit in any suitable manner so that their functions may be interchanged. In other words, they are so connected so that in one position of a circuit controller, heat exchanger 5 serves asan evaporator and heat exchanger 6 as a condenser whereas in another position of the circuit controller, heat exchanger 5 serves as a condenser and heat exchanger 6 as an evaporator.

Specifically, when the unit is to be used as aroom cooler, heat exchanger 5 serves as an evaporator and heat exchanger 6 serves as a condenser. In the room cooling operation, heat is removed from the room air by heat exchanger 5 and heat is, in turn, removed from the refrigerant system by the heat exchanger 6. To insure suflicient heat transfer, fans 16 and 17 are rotated so as to force an air flow through each of the two heat exchangers. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, fan16 pulls in air through openings 9, 11 and 12 and pushes it outwardly through heat exchanger 5 and aperture 10; and fan 17 pulls in air through apertures 13 and 15 and pushes it outwardly through heat exchanger 6 and aperture 14.

In this roomcooling operation, it is of course desirable that the heat of the compressor be carried off to the outside air and not passed into the room air. Therefore, I have positioned my air directing baffle means as shown in Fig. 1, so that a portion of the flow of the outside air set up by fan 17 passes around and in contact with the compressor, whereas the flow of room air set up by fan 16 is effectively blocked off from the compressor. By swinging bafiles 32 and 34 against their stops 40 and 42, a passageway is completed whereby the outside air entering through the aperture 15 is passed around the compressor before it enters the fan 17. The fin 44 partiallyblocks oifthe passage on the baflle 33 side of the compressor so that most of the outside air flows around the room or baffle 30 side of the compressor. This air flow around the compressor picks up most of its heat so that very little of it passes inwardly into the room.

Since the room side bafiles 29 and 31 are swung inwardly against thepartition ends 25 and 27, the room air entering through apertures 11 and 12 cannot touch the compressor'but rather must pass through fan 16 without picking up any of the compressor heat. As this room air leaves fan 16 and passes through heat exchanger 5, now serving as an evaporator, it-is of course cooled so as to condition the room. Conversely, the outside air passing through heat exchanger 6, now serving as a condenser, picks up its heat and thereby cools the refrigerant. Thus, all the excess heat given off by the system both at the compressor and at the condenser is passed outwardly from the conditioner so that little, if any, of the lost heat may enter the conditioned room or space. -By passing a stream of outside air around the compressor and then blowing this air together with additional outside air outwardly through the condenser, I have provided a system whereby the conditioned air is effectively isolated from the heated parts of the air conditioner.

Turning now-to Fig. 2, I have shown my new and improved air conditioner set up for use as a heating means. In this heating operation, the connections to the heat excha'ngers'S and 6 are reversed so that heat exchanger 5 now 'serves as the condenser and heat exchanger 6 serves as the evaporator. Fans 16 and 17 are, however, rotated in the same direction as when the unit was used as a room cooler, so that, as before, a flow room. air with the outside air;

of. room air is set. up outwardly through heat. exchanger 5 and-a flow of the outside air is set up outwardly through heat exchanger 6. The roost air passing through heat exchanger 5 picks up heat to warm thereon; whereas the: outside air passing through heat exchanger 6 gives 05 heat to. Warm the refrigerant passing through this element.

Nowtin. this. operation it is desirable thatthe heat given 01f by the compressor also be utilized to warm the room. air; and, thus in accordance with my invention I have positioned my movable baffie means so that a portion of. the room air passes around the compressor. Thus, the. room side baflles 29 and 31 are swung outwardly against their stops while the outer battles 32 and 34. are swung inwardly against partition ends 26 and 28. This. provides apath for the room air entering through aperture 12 to flow. over and around the comprcssor before it. enters heat exchanger 5. Pin 43, projecting outwardly from bafile 3-1 encourages almost all the air; to flow to the outer or baffle 33 side of the compressor 4- as it; passes therearound. The bafiles sz, 33. and. 34; however, prevent any intermingling of the Thus, in accordance with my invention, the heatv from the compressor 4aids theheat from heat exchanger 5 in warming the room air.

It. should beparticularly noted that in order to convert the preferred: embodiment of my new and improvedair conditioning means. from. a cooler to a heater, it is only necessary to reverse the refrigerant flow and to swing two: sets ofbaflles into difierent operating positions.

In Fig.. 3; I have shown this preferred airconditioning unit set up for use as a dehumidifier where it is desired to condense the moisture from the room air without cooling the room. Here again, the heat exchangers are connected in a refrigerant circuit so that heat exchanger 5 servesas an evaporator and heat exchanger 6serves as a condenser.

exchanger. .6 and. passed outwardly through apertures 13 and 1'53.

Likewise, the. room. air; is pulled in through aperture and heat exchanger 5 and is passed outwardly through apertures 9 and 12.

In order to utilize the compressor heat during this dehumidifying operation, the bafiles 32 and 34 are again swung inwardly against the partition ends 26 and28 and the bafiles 29 and 31 are moved outwardly against their stops 39 and 41. This, of course, places compressor 4 in the flow path leading from fan 16 to aperture 12 and fin 41 by protruding inwardly toward the compressor insures that most of the air flowing in this path will circle around the outside ofthe compressor rather than merely passing between it and baflle 30.

As the room air is drawn through heat exchanger 5, it is of course cooled, and thereby most of the moisture contained in it is condensed. But all of this air dare not be passed directly back to the room, for if such were done it would cause an undesired cooling of the room. Therefore, in accordance with my invention, a large portion of the flow is passed around the compressor 4 in the manner described above. This allows the compressor heat to warm this air so that it may be passed back into the room without substantially reducing room temperature. Although some of the cool dehumidified air leaving heat exchange 5 is passed directly into the room through aperture 9, the heat picked up by the air leaving through aperture 12 is sufficient to prevent any appreciable cooling of the room. By utilizing the compressor heat in this manner, the necessity for auxiliary heating means is obviatcd so that no electric coils, etc. needbe provided to warm the dehumidified room air. The heat picked up 6 in heat exchanger 5 is, ofcourse, given off to theoutside air: flowing, through heat exchanger 6.

Now in my preferred embodiment I have shown both blowers or fans 16 and 17 driven by a. single motor so that both are reversed in direction during the dehumidifying operation. This, of course, causes both the room and the outside air flows to be reversed through their respective heat exchangers. However, if desired, the fans may be driven by separate motors, and in that case only the motor driving the room air fan 16 necessarily need. be reversible. The unit will operate quite satisfactorily as a dehumidifier with the outside air passing outwardly rather than inwardly through heat exchanger 6, the same as it does during the cooling and air warming operations. In other words, the motor driving outside air fan 17 could rotate in the same direction during all of the three different operations of the unit.

In any case, no matter how many motors are used, my new and improved air conditioner may be readily adjusted, in accordance with myinvention, to operate either as a. room cooler, as a roomheater, or as a dehumidifier. Its operation in these latter two instances is particularly efficientv for in them, the waste heat given otf by the compressor is utilized for a useful purpose. In other words, in the latter two operations, the compressor heat is used to Warm the conditioned air. Moreover, the means I use to accomplishthis result are so simple and inexpensive that they cause practically no cost increase over the air directing means heretofore used in less flexible air conditioning units. But, it should, of course, be understood that I do not wish to restrict my invention to the particular bafile structure which I have shown and described for it is. obvious that various other adjustablebafile configurations could be usedv to accomplish the desired result. Nor is my invention limited to the particular type air conditioner described, for it is obvious that my air directing means may be adapted to any air conditioner utilizing a compression type refrigerant circuit.

Thus, while in accordance with the patent statutes I have. described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my inventiomit will be obvious to those skilled in the: art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and it is, therefore, aimed in. the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an air conditioning unit of the type adapted to be placed in a wall between the room to be conditioned and the outside atmosphere, a casing having a plurality of openings leading into said room and a plurality of openings leading into said outside atmosphere, a pair of heat exchangers and a compressor mounted in said casing, a first blower means mounted in said casing for creating a flow of outside air through one of said heat exchangers and back to said outside atmosphere, a second blower means mounted in said casing for creating a flow of the room air through the other of said heat exchangers and back to said room, partition means mounted in said casing for effectively separating said air flows, and adjustable bafile means mounted in said casing for selectively directing either one of said air flows over said compressor thereby to allow the heat of said compressor to be absorbed by the selected one of said air flows.

2. In an air conditioning unit of the type adapted to be reversing the direction of rotation of said second blower and thereby the direction of the room air flow, partition means mounted in said casing for effectively separating said air flows, and adjustable bafile means for selectively directing at least a portion of either one of said air fiows over said compressor thereby to allow the heat of said compressor to be absorbed by said portion of the selected air flow.

3. An air conditioning unit comprising a casing provided with a plurality of compartments, a pair of heat exchangers and a compressor each mounted in a separate one of said compartments, means connecting one of the.

for driving said blowers including means for reversing the direction of rotation of said first blower and thereby the direction of the room air flow, and adjustable baffie means for selectively connecting either one of said heat exchanger compartments to the compressor compartment thereby to pass at least a portion of the air flowing in the selected heat exchanger compartment through said compressor compartment.

4. An air conditioning unit comprising a casing provided with a plurality of compartments with one of said compartments including a pair of movable walls, a compressor mounted in said one compartment, a pair of heat exchangers each mounted in a separate one of the other compartments, means connecting one of the heat exchanger compartments to the room to be conditioned and the other of the heat exchanger compartments to the outside atmosphere, a first blower means for passing a flow of the room air through one of said heat exchangers and the compartment thereof and back to said room, a second blower means for passing a flow of the outside air through the other of said heat exchangers and the compartment thereof and back to said outside atmosphere, motor means for driving said blowers including means for reversing the direction of rotation of said first blower means and thereby the direction of said room air flow, and means for adjusting said movable walls to selectively connect the compressor compartment to either'one of said heat exchanger compartments, thereby to allow the air flow through the connected heat exchanger compartment to also pass through said compressor compartment to absorb the heat of said compressor.

5. In an air conditioning unit, a casing provided with a plurality of compartments, a pair of heat exchangers and a compressor each mounted in a separate one of said contpartments, means connecting one of the heat exchanger compartments to the room to be conditioned, a blower means for passing a flow of room air through said one compartment and the heat exchanger therein and back to said room, and adjustable baffle means for optionally connecting the compressor compartment to said one compartment thereby to direct at least a portion of said room air flow through said compressor compartment and over said compressor to absorb the heat of said compressor.

6. In an air conditioning unit, a casing provided with a plurality of compartments, a pair of heat exchangers and a compressor each mounted ina separate one of saidcompartments, means connecting one of the heat exchanger compartments to the room to be conditioned, a reversible blower means for passing a flow of room air in either direction through'said one compartment and the heat exchanger therein and back to said room, and adjustable baffle means for optionally connecting the compressor compartment to said one compartment thereby to direct at least a portion of said room air flow through said compressor compartment and over said compressor. to absorb the heatof said compressor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ashley Dec. 26, 1950 

